One of the best pitchers on the planet is going to be representing his country in next year’s World Baseball Classic.
Pirates stud Paul Skenes announced on MLB Network on Tuesday that he will be participating in the 2026 WBC for the United States, where he will likely be near -- or at -- the front of the rotation. The 2024 National League Rookie of the Year will now get a chance to take his show from Pittsburgh to the international stage.
“If I ever have the opportunity to do this, I’m going to,” Skenes said during Tuesday’s episode of MLB Central.
It has been just over a year since Skenes made his Major League debut, going from the top pitching prospect of his generation to one of the top arms in the game. He came into the year a Cy Young contender. In his 32 career starts, Skenes has gone 14-7 with a 2.16 ERA while fanning 223 over 187 2/3 innings with a sensational 7.3 WAR.
Skenes’ love of country is well known, starting his collegiate baseball journey at the Air Force Academy and now working with the Gary Sinise Foundation to help veterans, first responders and their families. This will be the first World Baseball Classic since he entered the league as the first overall Draft pick in 2023.
“When I was coming through high school,” Skenes said, “the thing that I thought I was going to be doing right now was flying jets rather than playing in Major League Baseball stadiums against the best of the best.
“This is one thing as a fan of the game, watching the previous World Baseball Classics, that I was like, ‘If I ever get the chance to do this, I'm never saying no.’ So this is going to be the first one.”
Skenes will help anchor an American team that is looking to rebound after finishing runner-up to Japan in 2023. That Classic ended in epic fashion, as Shohei Ohtani fanned Mike Trout in an all-time showdown.
“It was a pretty cool moment to watch it come down to those guys,” he said. “And again, it's the biggest moment in baseball.”
Team USA won the tournament in 2017, with Andrew McCutchen as one of its anchors in the outfield. To date, that victory was the only time the United States has taken the gold. The Pirates had several players participate in that 2023 tournament, including David Bednar, who pitched for Team USA.
Team USA will be part of Pool B in the 2026 WBC, and its first round of games will be played in Houston from March 6-11. Full rosters have not yet been announced, but Yankees superstar Aaron Judge was named captain of Team USA, which will again be led by manager Mark DeRosa.